Disclaimer: We have a lot in common with Shonda…a lot. Like we love Patrick. And Jeff Dean Morgan. And we love playing around with these characters. And well there’s more. But sadly, one thing we don’t have in common with her is owning the show.
Derek groaned slightly as he leaned over to lather the shaving cream on his face. His back was killing him, sleeping on the couch would do that to you. Especially two people sleeping on the couch, not that he was complaining about having Meredith curled up next to him. He was good with that. Something was wrong with her, bugging her and he had no idea what it was.
She had spent half the night making snarky remarks, and the other half moving around a lot. Always in his arms, but still, moving, a lot. He knew better than to ask her again what was bothering her, but she was acting so damn weird. This wasn't Meredith. She was being passive agressive and Meredith wasn't passive agressive. Meredith yelled and screamed.
But this time she wasn't. She wasn't talking at all. He knew her, she didn't talk, she avoided problems and pretended they weren't actually problems. But not with him, they talked, they yelled, they did everything. Her shutting up around him wasn't like her. He could always get her to talk, he was her Derek. It was how they worked. This wasn't how they worked.
She walked into the bathroom, wearing jeans and her bra, which usually bothered him since Mark was around, but he couldn't help but be aroused by her. He stared at her, the way her hips moved, the way the jeans sat low on her hips. She got out her mirror and tweezers and sat on the toilet, going silently and a little agressively to her task. "What are you staring at?" she snapped.
"You look hot," Derek shrugged.
Meredith rolled her eyes. "All you think about is sex," she grumbled.
"No it's not," Derek sighed. "There's a lot on my mind right now, you just don't want to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about," she insisted.
"Sure," Derek sighed.
She stood up, pushing him out of the way a little bit to look closely in the bathroom mirror. "Ass," she mumbled.
"What is your problem?" Derek groaned.
"Nothing," she frowned. "I'm trying to tweeze my eyebrows. And my back is killing me. But nothing is my problem. What the hell is your problem?"
"I don't have a problem," Derek sighed. "Well minus the fact you're bitchy and hogging all my space."
"I need space too!" she yelled, turning to stare at him. "You think it's easy to look 'hot' as you put it?"
"No," Derek shook his head. "Sorry, Mer. I'm just...I didn't sleep well last night. I don't want to fight with you."
"I didn't sleep well last night either," she sighed. "Maybe I should just go to my dorm tonight."
"What? Why?" Derek asked, wincing as he nicked himself lightly.
"Because you steal blankets," Meredith sighed. "And because we slept on the couch. And because neither of us could sleep."
"I won't steal blankets," Derek offered.
"Last night you were saying you couldn't help it," Meredith argued. "And maybe we both need space." And then she muttered something that sound like "used to it."
Derek stopped shaving and turned to look at Meredith, his face contorted by confusion. "Space? You want space?"
"Yes," she nodded and then shook her head. "No. I don't know."
"Mer, what's going on?" Derek sighed. "We basically live together, and now you want space?â€
"Nothing's going on," she sighed.
"Something is going on," Derek responded.
"What's going on is that I have to finish getting ready, I have class in twenty minutes," she said after a minute.
"Fine, whatever," Derek groaned, feeling more than a little frustrated with her.
She brushed her teeth quickly and kissed him lightly on a lather-less part of his face. "I'll see you later," she sighed.
"You're coming back?" Derek asked.
She shrugged. "I don't know. Do you want me to come back?"
"Of course I want you to," Derek smiled slightly.
She sighed. "Maybe. Are we still on for coffee at two?"
"We are," Derek nodded studying her. "I love you, Mer. I don't know what's going on with you, but I love you."
She nodded as she pulled on her sweater. "See you at two," she said as she turned and left the wash room.
Derek sighed. Something was definitely going on with Meredith. She was...not her. She wasn't giggling and throwing herself at him. She wasn't being her. And he had no idea how to fix a problem when he didn't know what the problem was.
He went to his own classes, trying to figure out what he had done. Trying to go over the past twenty-four hours and figure out what he had done wrong. Because he had obviously done something wrong. They had woken up, Meredith had tried to have sex with him, his mom called, she freaked out at the drawer. And that was when this had all started. So it had something to do with his mom.
But he had no idea what. His mom was pushy and a little overbearing, but he was saving her from it. He wasn't forcing her to meet her, he was making sure that everything was at her pace, he couldn't think of one thing he had done wrong when it came to his mom. He was trying his best, he really was.
After a pop quiz that he clearly failed due to his inability to actually think about anything beyond Meredith, he grabbed his stuff and went downstairs to the coffee shop, hoping Meredith would finally be ready to talk.
She was already there, staring straight ahead and wringing her hands, something obviously on her mind. "Hey," he greeted, bending over to give her a quick kiss.
"Hey," she sighed.
"How are classes going?" he asked, deciding it might be best to avoid grilling her again.
She shrugged. "Didn't go."
"What? Why didn't you go to classes?" Derek asked. "I swear you ran out of our place this morning to go to classes."
"I had other things to do," she sighed. "And I just didn't go. Why? Are you going to dump me because I didn't go to my classes?"
"No, Meredith, I'm not going to dump you. I'm just worried about you," Derek sighed.
"I'm fine," she rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her coffee.
"No you're not," Derek shook his head. "Can I expect you in my bed tonight?"
"Are you going to steal the blankets again?" she countered.
"I'll put some extra blankets on the bed if I have to, so we can both have a set," Derek offered.
She shrugged. "Whatever."
"Mer," Derek groaned. "I can't fix things if I don't know what the problem is."
"There isn't a problem," Meredith insisted. "It's nothing."
"So you're pulling away from me because everything is fine," Derek said, nodding slowly.
"I'm not pulling away!" Meredith exclaimed. "I just...you're...it's nothing, Derek. Maybe I'm having a bad day."
"Bad two days," Derek argued.
"Fine, bad two days," Meredith acknowledged. "If you hate it so much, I'll just spend the night at my dorm."
"I don't want you to spend the night at your dorm," Derek sighed. "Do you even remember where it is?"
She chewed on her bottom lip. "Okay, granted, it's been a few days since I was there."
"It has been," Derek smiled. "Because you can't sleep without me."
"That's...that's...ugh!" Meredith sighed, running her fingers through her hair and then stopping. "You've ruined me. I'm the girl who needs a guy to sleep with. I've even picked up your habits. You've completely ruined me!"
Derek chuckled softly. "For what it's worth, I'd be lost without you too."
"But, but," Meredith stammered. "But you..what..."
Derek gave her a confused look. "So no dorm tonight," he said slowly.
"I don't know," she sighed. "I shouldn't get too used to staying in your apartment all the time. What about summer and...well..summer..."
"You should move in with me," Derek suggested, shrugging slightly. "Once your dorm is done for the year, just officially move in."
"What?" Meredith stared at him.
"Move in with me," Derek smiled.
"Derek, I can't...you...what about...what about Mount Sinai?"
"Mount Sinai?" Derek asked, looking completely confused. "What about it?"
"That's where you're going in September," Meredith sighed. "And then I'll have to stay in the dorms."
"What the fuck gave you that idea?" Derek asked.
"I, I wasn't snooping," she sighed. "But I found the acceptance letter. And I thought...you...how...you're leaving."
"What?" Derek asked and then realization dawned in his eyes. "So that's what this has been about. You thought...oh Mer."
"What?" she asked, chewing on her bottom lip. "I really wasn't snoooping, Der. And I understand. It's one of the best med schools in the country..."
"Meredith, I'm not going anywhere," Derek sighed, reaching over and grabbing her hands to squeeze them tightly.
"You're...you're not?" she asked, trying to keep the hope out of her voice.
"No," Derek shook his head. "I'm staying at Darthmouth."
"But the letter..."
"I applied in junior year, before I knew you. Besides I couldn't just apply to one school. Mount Sinai was one of my backups," Derek shrugged.
"So you're staying?" she asked. "Here? Seriously? I mean...Mount Sinai is one of the best. And you were accepted. And I mean, I want you to stay but not...not because of me."
"I'm not staying because of you," Derek sighed. "Well maybe a little bit because of you. But I didn't really want to go to Mount Sinai, it's where my dad went..and just...I'm sure I don't want to go there. Dartmouth was my number one choice from the start."
"Oh," Meredith breathed. "Oh."
"Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you yell at me about being an ass or something?"
"Because," Meredith sighed. "I didn't want you to be pissed at me for snooping. And...I thought...you would have a good reason for not telling me. Or something. You didn't want me to know."
"I would have told you," Derek squeezed her hands. "If there had been something to tell, I would have told you."
"Oh," Meredith sighed. "Oh. O-kay."
"Mer, did you really think I could just walk away like that?" Derek asked, letting go of one hand to run his fingers through her hair.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "I didn't...we never...we've never really talked about it. I wasn't even really thinking about it. And I didn't know. I know how important being a doctor is to you."
"It is, but you...you're my Meredith. I couldn't leave this," Derek sighed.
She nodded. "I'm sorry, Der."
"Don't be," Derek soothed. "I'd freak out if I thought you were moving."
"So you're staying," she nodded. "What about Markie?"
"I'm not sure what his plans are," Derek answered. "We'll have to find out, start making plans for next year."
"And you really want me to move in?" she sighed.
"I really want you to officially move in," Derek nodded.
"When?" she giggled a little. "I mean, I'm more or less moved in."
"Whenever you want," Derek shrugged. "It's not like it would be an actual change."
"True," she nodded and then scooted her chair close to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I was a bitch, Der."
"It's okay," Derek sighed. "We probably should have talked about this a while ago."
"Anything else I need to know?" she giggled. "Anything else I'll find on my next pen search?"
"I think we're good," Derek laughed.
"Okay," she nodded and then kissed him. "I forgot to tell you this morning. Love you."
Derek smiled and pulled her close, kissing her again, harder. "Love you too. And maybe we should...talk. About our future."
"What about it?" she asked, pulling away slightly.
"I don't know. Just...you know...where we want to end up. Together," Derek answered.
"Oh," Meredith sighed. "Yeah."
"Way to sound enthusiastic about our life together," Derek laughed.
She giggled. "I've never done this before, Der. I mean, I can't even sleep without you so I figure it's obvious where this is going..."
"Yeah, it is," Derek nodded. "But still talking might be good, to avoid any Meredith freak outs in the future."
She giggled again, slapping his chest lightly. "Ass."
"I don't think you get to call me an ass," Derek pointed out. "I've had to put up with Meredith the bitch for the last two days."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine," she nodded. "So...where are we ending up?"
"Together," Derek shrugged. "Right now that's all I know."
We have something like a miracle, yeah, and I'll stay with you.
